The Huffington Post has an alarming story on its front page. Although alarming, I think we all know it to be fact before today.

The White House is preparing for a situation in Japan that could be "deadly for decades," a U.S. official tells ABC News. According to the official, the U.S. believes a larger evacuation zone should be imposed and that the next 24-48 hours are "critical."

"It would be hard to describe how alarming this is right now," ABC quoted the anonymous official as saying.

The difficulties caused by the evacuations were blamed for "escalating" the chances of a meltdown.

"They need to stop pulling out people -- and step up with getting them back in the reactor to cool it. There is a recognition this is a suicide mission," the unnamed U.S. official was quoted by ABC as saying.